Posted on 08/24/2004 11:25:18 AM PDT by Rutles4Ever
A group of Vietnam veterans bankrolled by George Bush supporters has rejected an appeal by the President and is vowing to continue a controversial series of TV ads criticising the Vietnam combat record of the Democratic challenger, John Kerry.
Roy Hoffmann, a retired admiral and founder of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, said his organisation of more than 250 Vietnam veterans would continue to raise questions about Senator Kerry's combat service.
The anti-Kerry veterans planned a second week-long wave of campaign ads beginning yesterday in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Nevada. The ad, highlighting Senator Kerry's congressional testimony about alleged atrocities by American GIs after his return from combat, appeared on the veterans' website on Friday.
Mr Bush, speaking to reporters at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, said Senator Kerry "served admirably and he ought to be proud of his record".
The President's appeal came in the form of a broad request for all so-called "527" political organisations to cease campaign advertising. The privately funded organisations take their names from the section of the tax code regulating their activities.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is one of the groups, as is the anti-Bush organisation MoveOn.org. "I don't think we ought to have 527s," said Mr Bush. "I think they're bad for the system."
Asked if he was calling on Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to cease their onslaught, Mr Bush replied: "All of them. That means that [Kerry] ad [and] every other ad."
The Democratic vice-presidential candidate, John Edwards, accused Mr Bush of ducking responsibility for his allies' campaign attacks, which questioned whether Senator Kerry faced enemy fire in an operation for which the young US Navy skipper won the Bronze Star.
"The moment of truth came and went and the President still couldn't bring himself to do the right thing," Senator Edwards said in a statement. "Instead of hiding behind a front group, George Bush needs to take responsibility and demand that the ad come off the air."
A senior Kerry campaign strategist, Tad Devine, told reporters that Republican allegations against Senator Kerry would backfire on Mr Bush because "the allegations are not true and the President is behind them".
The Bush campaign and Admiral Hoffmann have denied any co-ordination, which would be illegal under US law.
The Kerry campaign has fought back against Admiral Hoffmann's group with two new TV ads in Ohio, Wisconsin and West Virginia. One Kerry ad accused Mr Bush of similarly smearing John McCain, the Republican senator, four years ago in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination, saying: "Now he's doing it to John Kerry."
Senator McCain, a career navy pilot and former Vietnam prisoner of war, lost to Mr Bush in the hard-fought South Carolina presidential primary after Bush supporters distributed windshield leaflets accusing the senator of opposing legislation in Congress that would help veterans. Senator McCain, who beat Mr Bush in the New Hampshire primary, never regained his momentum.
In a speech due to be delivered in New York late yesterday, Senator Kerry was expected to accuse Mr Bush of weakening the middle class, many of whom fear losing their jobs.
More than 1.1 million jobs have been lost since Mr Bush entered the White House and there is growing public concern over the number of jobs going to low-wage countries such as China and India.
Hearst Newspapers, Reuters
What a lie......O'Neill has said he (as are many of the others) is a Democrat...supported Edwards.....maybe he's changed now, but sheesh, how blatant can they get!!!
More than 1.1 million jobs have been lost since Mr Bush entered the White House and there is growing public concern over the number of jobs going to low-wage countries such as China and India.
Hearst Newspapers, Reuters
More bilge and spin from this left wing Aussie rag.
As Americans we can donate to the Swiftvets so they can buy more tv time for their ads. Here is the link to do it:
https://www.swiftvets.com/swift/ccdonation.php?op=donate&site=SwiftVets
LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL!
I love the foreign press. They obviously haven't gotten their DNC talking points. There WAS no "Bush Appeal" and it was "Too Little Too Late" and "They Did The Same Thing To John McCain and Max Cleland" and "Bush Betrayed His Country By Flying Fighter Jets For 6 Years" and... and... and... HALLIBURTON!
I seriously doubt that the Kerry camp would even consider running those ad's without McCain's prior approval...they would have be crucified otherwise.
Further, Kerry's whining is a complete flip flop from "Bring it on."
What, pray tell, does the final sentence have to do with ANYTHING in the rest of the article, except to show the Reuters bias?
hmmm..
Kerry was never in Cambodia in Christmas of 1968.
and yes, his first WOUND was SELF-INFLICTED!!
WHAT ELSE IS B.S?
BRING IT ON SWIFTIES !
I respect McCain's service to his country. But that is where my respect ends.
"Moveon.org Accepts Kerry's Desire to Do Nothing About Ending the Bush Blitz"
Is THAT what did in McCain? Windshield leaflets? Why on earth does he care so much about the "big money" in politics, if he can be brought down by two guys at Kinko's?
McCain ran off to Europe........coward.
If I were O'Neil, I probably wouldn't be too excited about Edwards right now.
Then again, who is?
In Norway (why does the term Quisling come to mind) on a junket with Hillary Clinton.
How convenient. I wonder if Hillary was brokering his appointment as SecDef in exchange for all of his efforts on behalf of Kerry?
I am so sick and tired of the revisionist history of the 2000 GOP Primary. McCain never had a chance.
If McCain wasn't supporting that ad directly he would have immediately held a press conference wherever he was at and put an end to it.
McCain lost because his big issue was Campaign Finance Reform.
This whole flap with the Swiftboat Vets proves that nobody, then or now, EVER gave a rat's rump about Campaign Finance Reform.
I just saw my first one of these ads this morning, running on a TV station in Albuquerque. It was brutal. Loved it!
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